Accidentally in Love
by lu.e3
Summary: Little mishaps, misunderstandings, mistakes and accidents slowly and surely lead to...fairytale love? A multichaptered KaoHaru story.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Gold Ladybird**

_/the first time I met him was because of a bug. No, not my dad nor my friends nor a human being were the ones to introduce us. A bug/_

--

"Haruhi, are you actually going to open this?" Two girls were sitting on a sunny grass slope, watching the clouds scud by above them.

"Open what Chikiro?" The one with brown hair answered absent mindedly. She frowned as a flying insect landed on her cheek, and she flicked it away with her hand.

"This!" The blond haired girl waved a red envelope. "It's a new one. And it's addressed to you." Chikiro noted Haruhi had that faraway look in her eyes again.

"I don't know…" Haruhi stared at the jar of insects balanced on top of her clipboard, resting on her lap. The blue butterflies they had to catch for biology class were sticking their three segmented antennas to the side of the glass jar. "I hope I can pass the examinations for Ouran Academy next year."

Chikiro spluttered and dropped the red envelope. "Was that what you were thinking?" She stood on her knees and faced Haruhi squarely. "Look at me Haruhi. You. Will. Pass. With brains like yours, you'll get in." Haruhi stared back at Chikiro with her depthless brown eyes.

"You're going to the local high," she stated.

"Most of us will…" Chikiro dropped back down on the blossom strewn grass again. Her gaze drifted towards the playing field far below her. Small children were beginning to leak out from the classrooms, yelling and screaming. A worn soccer ball shimmered in the air "Except you. We'll really miss you," she said softly. The other girl didn't answer. Chikiro's tone changed and she gave Haruhi a quick smile. "Hey, if you want to have a look around Ouran today, like you said you were, you better get going. Lunch period is going to begin soon and it only lasts for an hour."

"I better walk quick," Haruhi pushed herself up and brushed cherry blossom petals and dry grass stalks off her navy skirt. "I need to find out about some of the application processes. I don't want to bother my Dad too much. Can you keep the jar until I come back?" Haruhi started rechecking the contents of her bag next to her.

"Sure." Chikiro's eyes followed her quick and practical movements. "I'm so glad you're my partner for this experiment. We got all the right bugs." Chikiro picked up the heavy jar and shook it. "Except gold ladybirds, but they're so hard to find." She faced Haruhi sternly. "Do you now how special gold ladybirds are? If you spot one, chase after it immediately." Haruhi only smiled faintly as a response and continued to rummage in her bag. Chikiro picked up the red envelope again with her other hand. "Hey, open this, will you? I'm dying to know what's written in there and who it's from."

"Maybe," Haruhi swung her bag across her shoulder and headed towards the school gates. "I'm going to visit Ouran now. See you after lunch."

"Haruhi, do… do you really intend on going to Ouran?"

"I've always wanted to go to Ouran Academy. My mum went to Ouran." The girl replied simply, hands resting on the wire gates. Then with a swish of her skirt, she pushed them open and ran out. Her sharp footsteps on the hard bitumen road faded away.

"Your mum?" Chikiro suddenly felt pity for the motherless girl. She glanced at the envelope in her hand. "WAIT! Haruhi, you still haven't opened this!!" Haruhi was already gone. Chikiro gave up and shook her head exasperatedly. "You never open all the love letters you receive, do you?" She ran her fingers across the smooth seal. "Bet this one is from Arai."

"Hey Chikiro, check out this new magazine, it's the spring edition…" a gaggle of her friends crowded around her and tugged at her sleeve excitedly.

Chikiro's eyes sparkled with interest, but just before she joined them, she turned to gaze at the school's entrance. The small gate was still swinging slightly. "Fujioka, hope you'll do alright at Ouran."

--

Haruhi stood at the front of the Ouran school gates, feeling like a lost child. The gates shimmered of silver metal. They towered above her regally, making her squat shadow on the white pavements ridiculously small. Mid day sunshine bounced off round curves of metal. The girl looked up and whispered out aloud what the fanciful designs represented.

"Ouran Academy."

Haruhi calmed down her beating heart and touched the metal clasp. It was sun warmed beneath her fingers. Encouraged, she pushed and took one step forward. This was the school she had dreamed of.

The road was quiet except for the twittering of swallows in the bushes. Her shoes crunched on the loose polished stones that defined the driveway. Haruhi found herself tip toeing, reluctant to scratch the pure white path with her dirty school boots. Immaculate spring green lawns surrounded her like a golfing valley. Beautiful and elegant oak trees sheltered the area with high generous branches that brushed a clear blue sky with budding clouds. White lilies peered at her from the undergrowth. Jeweled dragonflies hovered over the royal purple blossoms of lavender. Birds of Paradise stood by the road with proud beaks. And the roses… they were everywhere. The pink roses were slowly budding, showing a delicious cream centre. Their light fragrance lulled the girl into a sense of peace. Who knew that behind the intimidating school gates, was a wonderful garden? Eyes wondering at the magic of the flowers, Haruhi suddenly caught a miniscule flash of gold.

"Where are the school buildings?" She murmured, shaking her head. The flower garden, their scent, the sunshine, the fresh breeze were shrouding her ability to think clearly. There was no time to be admiring the school grounds yet. It was the school's administration office she needed to get to before the lunch hour was up. Haruhi raised her head and viewed her whereabouts with logical and intelligent eyes.

Grass. Trees. Flowers. One road. No buildings. No map. No choice except to follow the road.

Haruhi was a girl who always broke no rules and did everything that was deemed to be right. Ever since her mother died, she took it upon herself to cook, clean and look after her grief stricken Daddy. She studied extremely hard and her one goal in life was to become a successful lawyer just like her mother. She took one road in life and one road only. Nothing could distract her and nothing else mattered.

Then Haruhi saw something flitter in front of her face. It was small. It was brilliantly gold like no gold could ever be. It danced in the sunshine.

"A gold lady bird…" Haruhi blinked. Chikiro's words came echoing back into her mind.

"_Except gold ladybirds, but they're so hard to find."_

Haruhi shifted the bag on her shoulder. The administering papers were all in there. She had been walking for twenty minutes already on this single road without getting anywhere. It was like she had wandered off the world of civilization and into some enchanted garden. There must be another way to get to the school buildings apart from this long windy path.

The gold ladybird still hovered in front of her. Haruhi eyed it, frowning. Wasn't it afraid of her? As if in response the bug landed resolutely on her nose. Spluttering, Haruhi shook her head furiously. The bug easily eluded her snatching fingers and began dancing in front of her eyes again. It teased at her.

_Do you now how special gold ladybirds are? If you spot one, chase after it immediately. _

Haruhi broke her first rule. She took out a spare glass jar from her bag and lunged after the infuriating creepy crawly. She ran through the long grass and bushes, brushing past a path of budding rose bushes. A trail of pink petals fluttered after her. Breathing slightly hard, with knees deep in bushes, Haruhi rechecked her bag to see that the contents were not messed up after her sprint. They were still in perfect condition. But the bug had disappeared.

The girl sighed and checked her watch. "Half an hour." Everything was green shrubs. At first Haruhi tried to think logically about which direction she would go. It didn't work because it was impossible to employ logic in her situation. There were no maps and no landmarks. Then she remembered what her Daddy used to tell her.

_If you want to achieve something, all you have to do is believe in yourself. _

It kept her law dream alive. Well, right now she needed to use that magic to get her to the administration office. The girl focused on that want, that need and that feeling of desire. Her feet started moving and Haruhi followed.

She reached a very neat courtyard. Haruhi's footsteps echoed in the large empty space. Surrounding the courtyard were at least five glittering buildings. Finally! Haruhi cheered to herself. But which building had the office she was looking for?

Fountain water trickled soothingly. A pair of boys sat alone under an arching tree. Doves pecked at their feet.

"Excuse me," Haruhi saw them from the corner of her eye. She took quick steps towards the tree. "Could you show me the administering office?"

They were wearing the middle school's crisp white uniform. Surely they could give her directions. Haruhi checked her watch again. She had a maximum of twenty minutes left.

"No." the two monotone voices synchronized an answer.

"Could you show me the administering office?" Haruhi repeated, seemingly unfazed by their direct rudeness. She stared at the back of their red heads as if to demand an answer from them.

No answer.

Haruhi frowned. She turned and searched the entire courtyard with her eyes. No map. No other people. "Could you show me the administering office? Please?" She spoke a little louder and a little sharper.

Something thumped onto the grass. Haruhi glanced at the gameboy that had been thrown carelessly away. It was a curious little machine. The words "Game Over" blinked black and white on the grey screen. Haruhi hastily turned to face the boy.

He had finally turned to look at her. Piercing gold eyes evaluated her. They were unfriendly.

"You new student?" The boy had straight cut red hair, an angular face and something predatory about his look. He shrugged off his white blazer and stood up, looking her up and down.

"No," Haruhi answered, wondering why he was looking at her like that. "But I'm hoping-"

"Then just go away," the boy interrupted. He was already reaching out for his fallen gameboy again. A flicker of a cruel smile touched his mouth. "You don't belong here," he seemed to taunt, his voice full of irony. Then his voice slinked back to a monotone, his slow lazy gestures suggesting that he was feeling bored out of his mind.

"You want to…" Haruhi glanced at the other boy who had begun to speak to her. His voice was so soft she had to strain to hear. His back was still to her.

She stepped closer. "I'm sorry but I couldn't hear you." She half expected a nasty comment from the other boy, but he with the cruel taunts treated her like she wasn't there and that he had never set eyes on her. His eyes were resting on his gameboy. The machine's glow accentuated the sharp angles on his face.

"_You don't belong here."_

Haruhi bit her lip and focused on the other boy.

"I said," his voice taking an edge, "You want to know where the administration office is?"

He turned to glare at her, as if to hide his softer, kinder nature. Haruhi blinked in surprise His face was identical to the other boy's! And perched on his nose was that notorious gold ladybird!

Haruhi whipped out her glass jar and carefully scooped the bug up. "Caught you!" She was unable to restrain herself from saying gleefully. She had caught one of the most difficult bugs with little mess or pain.

The boys didn't think so. The one with the ladybird toppled to the grass in surprise."Kaoru!" the boy who had been so preoccupied with his gameboy threw the machine away like trash and bound towards his brother. "Are you okay!" He frantically called. He suddenly turned on the girl. "What are you doing, slamming a glass jar at my brother!" he yelled. Angry red blotches appeared in his cheeks. "The administration office is third floor, first building to the right. Happy now?"

Haruhi started forward to apologize and help the poor boy on the ground. She hadn't meant to scare them or trick them to tell her where the office was. But the way the other boy seemed to touch the one called Kaoru made it seemed like she had committed murder or torture. Gold eyes flashed at her. _Go away, don't you dare come into our world, _they seemed to scream at her.

"Sorry!" Haruhi stumbled back at the force of his glare.

"Hikaru…" Kaoru lay on the ground with his eyes gently closed. "I'm not hurt." Haruhi sighed in relief and turned to leave them in peace like they wanted, but Kaoru's voice tugged her back. "Hey girl, don't tell them we're here skipping lessons."

Haruhi hesitated. She glanced back at the two twin boys lounging under the arch of a tree with doves pecking at their feet; the only inhabitants in the empty courtyard. Skipping lessons meant you were wasting half your life. She opened her mouth to gently admonish them.

"But-"

"Lunch is about to begin in 5 minutes. What's the point in dragging us back?" The boy called Hikaru sneered. He said the word "Us" in a funny way, like it represented the world. Haruhi wanted to ask why they were skipping lessons but the school bell rang. She glanced at her watch.

"Damn!" She gasped. "Ten minutes left!" She sketched a wave and broke into a run. Her footsteps filled the courtyard as if it were the only sound. Her figure slowly became smaller and smaller until it disappeared. Suddenly the two boys were the only ones left under the arching tree – again.

"Kaoru." Hikaru sounded annoyed. "You have another stupid ladybug on your nose."

The other boy raised his hand in a stop gesture. The ladybug remained sitting contently on the boy's nose without being violently swatted away.

Kaoru started singing. It was a soft, clear voice that echoed in the empty courtyard. The leaf shadows dappled like water waves on their faces. Four more minutes of solitude before the last lunch bell rang and people swarmed the place like ants.

"_Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home_

_Your house is on fire;_

_Your children all roam"_

"What the hell are you singing Kaoru?" Hikaru plopped back down on the grass and lay his head on his brother's shoulder.

"Nursey Ryhme Hikaru," Kaoru answered. "Did you forget them?"

"_Except little Ann_

_Who sits in her pan_

_Weaving her laces as fast as she can."_

Hikaru scowled. "Why?"

The ladybird arched its wings and fluttered off Kaoru's nose. The boy opened his glimmering gold eyes, the same colour as the ladybird. "Well Nan told us ladybirds are lucky. You should chant the song if a ladybird lands on you: if it then flies away again, your wish will come true."

The boys sat in silence. The ground beneath them started rumbling.

"I hope your wish comes true then," Hikaru finally said.

Doors opened. Students in white and blue informs appeared on the stairs. A basketball was thrown into the air. Chattering, gossiping voices filled the courtyard. Lunch at Ouran had began.

"I hope our wish comes true," Kaoru corrected. He picked up the gameboy from Hikaru's fingers. "I bet I can beat your record."

"As if you can," Hikaru murmured.

Kaoru focused on the game but his heart was elsewhere. _I wished for us to be set free from our cocoon. I wished for someone to enter our world and stay._

--

Haruhi told Chikiro about the gold ladybird afterwards.

"Really? You saw one?" her friend did a little victory dance as Haruhi took out her jar and showed the bug she had caught. "Oh and how did the processing go?"

"It was fine," Haruhi waved Chikiro's concern aside. "I got all the papers done."

"So you really are going to apply for Ouran?" her friend persisted.

Haruhi nodded resolutely. "It's one step towards my law dream."

Chikiro dropped her eyes to the ladybird crawling inside the glass jar so that she wouldn't have to say anything insensitive. She tapped her chin thoughtfully and instead said. "You know, golden ladybirds are legendarily thought to bring an individual safely into a magical realm." She jumped about excitedly. "Hey, that means you'll fit into Ouran alright!"

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Thanks Chikiro." She smiled, touched. "Thank you for caring. But as long as I get the education I need, I'm really happy regardless of what the people there are like."

_Besides, _Haruhi thought _people do have funny belief about ladybirds. The only thing I know about ladybirds is that they are bugs. They eat crops. To farmers and therefore everybody else, they're a nuisance. _

* * *

A/N: I've done two KaoHaru stories which I've decided to remain as oneshots, so I'm determined to make this multi-chaptered since I love KaoHaru so much and that I kind of know where I'm going with this. I've actually used the gold ladybird motif before, but I really like it related to the Hitachiins that I'm using it again – tho to a more prominent extent. This writing style is kinda different to how I normally I write. I shoved so many symbolisms and details in it that my brain hurts.

The title Accidentally in Love is pinched off a song from Shrek 2 – no relation to this story of course.

I hope you like this slow romance story from beginning of Haruhi's Ouran adventures to end. It pretty much follows the original story except for the KaoHaru bits, and I make up things that happen in between the events in the manga/anime.

Lu.e3


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Rose Doorway**

There is an old century legend about the Rose Doorway situated deep in the public maze: for whoever walks underneath its rose adorned arms, their heart wishes will be granted. Whether this was made up by superficial lovesick school girls eager to exchange love letters or originated deep in the tales of the common town folk – nobody knows. However they say that old century rituals are more potent than ones that are merely a decade old.

---

_The Fujioka Ritual;_

The boy shivered. Sunlight strained through the water washed sky. It was a contradiction. A car skidded across the corner. The boy scrambled out its way and onto the crossroads. He paused, breathing hard.

Pink petals were fluttering into the puddles, touching the streets with a dash of warmth. The boy kept on looking nervously over his shoulders. The shadows dappled the concrete like moonlight. The echo of his footsteps was murky. The rose adorned stone statue was shimmering behind the leaves like magic. The boy stopped walking. He hesitated. Should he walk under the infamous stature? It was already too late. She was already there and if he didn't hurry, he would miss her.

The boy closed his eyes. _I don't care. Better to lose the game than not try at all. _

He took a resolute step forward.

"Good morning," the girl greeted simply. The tip of her umbrella tapped the pavement. Her eyes shifted to his trembling wet fingers.

"Um…" He held up the soaked pink letter weakly. "This-" _is a love letter._

The girl's smile was bright and split over her face like a rainbow does after rain. She held up a white envelope too. The boy jumped visibly, his face of wonder. "Did you get into Ouran too?" Somehow her reply was a little strange.

She tilted her head back into the shadows. She opened her mouth to speak more but no words came out. The girl swished her skirt and dissolved into a swirl of pink dream petals.

She left him kneeling in the rain, soaked to his knees on the wet road.

"_Young master, shall we play something else?"_

_Maybe._

His letter lay forgotten on the pavement.

---

Morning rose. Dreams dissolved into sharp cold air, elusive as a sylph.

"What are dreams?" The red haired boy had his eyes staring at nothing as the wintery scene sailed past the car window. The leaves had fallen. The trees branches were bare.

"Dreams are stupid," the other identical boy scowled. His twin said nothing. "I had a dream about a giant wrestling jellybean," he continued scowling.

"Aren't dreams supposed to tell the future?" The boy watching through the window questioned. Rain was speckling on the glass.

"Yeah, but dream symbols - that's a load of crap."

"Well," Kaoru said decisively, turning his head away from the window to switch on the plasma screen, "they kinda reflect on what you're thinking about." The car swerved past a commoner boy who had fallen on to his knees in a rain puddle.

Hikaru frowned.

Kaoru's eyes were focused on the morning programs. He didn't see a swirl of a skirt and a glimpse of long brown hair flashing through the rear mirror. "She wanted to meet you outside the school gates at 9am."

"Whatever."

---

_This is my new school._

It was only Orientation Day. But she felt like she could finally belong somewhere. "Belong" was a strange word; it meant filling up that empty core inside. She lost that precious core ten years ago. Of course nothing could ever replace her mother. But attending her old school and aiming for the same job filled it up halfway. Pure effort and hard work had finally paid off. Haruhi couldn't stop smiling.

"This is our new student who is going to be joining our class next year."

It was kind of unbelievable. That she was actually inside an Ouran Classroom and being introduced as a future new student. Perhaps she was just delirious with happiness, but she felt very light. The room was vague and hazy. The best thing was it wasn't a dream, it was real.

Haruhi couldn't care less about her misfortunes last week when some thugs had broken her glasses. The only thing it imparted was that she couldn't see the distinct faces of her future classmates. Where was that boy who claimed that he had also got in Ouran? He had shoved his letter of acceptance into her face this morning! For some reason, boys shoving letters at her, wanting something, seemed to happen quite a lot. She always politely turned them away. It had happened so often she referred to it as the Haruhi ritual. _Never mind that. _She turned back to the class. She could hear murmuring. She sensed an interested atmosphere.

As soon as the class leader opened his mouth to speak again, the class went back to their daily involvements. Haruhi was glad. _Dear Mother in heaven, people are never any different. Even rich kids. _

"We'll have the new student introduce herself-"

The door banged widely open. Cold corridor air blasted through the comfortable warmth of the classroom. Amidst the noise, two boys sidled through as if they didn't want the attention they had so obviously initiated. Their attempts to remain inconspicuous failed. Eyes shifted. Haruhi noted that the murmuring became muttering. She watched them walk across the classroom with exaggerated slowness. _Why do I have a feeling that I have seen them before?_

"Hikaru, Kaoru," the boy representative spoke nervously. "You shouldn't be late-"

He lapsed into silence as one of them flicked a glare of annoyance to shut him up. The two boys stalked towards the window seats.

"Our driver almost ran someone over," one of the drawled.

"Stupid chauffeur. We fired him and had to hire another one," the other continued. Silence followed. It was their only explanation for their lateness they were going to offer. Haruhi remembered where she had seen them before. _Those boys were the twins I saw under that arching tree with doves pecking their feet._

"You can't sit there," the boy representative suddenly blurted out. He gestured at Haruhi. "The new student by her family rank and position is allocated to sit at the back-"

"She can have our seats at the front," came their bored monotone voices.

"I'll sit there," Haruhi said quickly. No one raised an eyebrow at her suggestions. She moved as quietly as possible to her new seat. She didn't know the seats were allocated like that. Nevertheless the board was clear from this seat. She was grateful.

Haruhi glanced at the twins. She fancied one had a softer looking expression. She waited for him to turn around or even offer the tiniest sign of recognition so that she could mouth "thanks". He ignored her glance and only stared solidly at the white board.

---

The moment the bell rang, someone slammed a fist down on her desk. No one had ever slammed her desk before. Haruhi was still immersed in the lesson. Her warm happiness was interrupted like someone throwing a bucket of icy water at her.

"Deliver this for me."

The classroom had become still. There was a strange buzzing in the background. It was like someone had given her a pair of glasses and she could see the hidden shapes interwoven behind that smooth exterior. Azure eyes watched her. They were azure with jealousy.

"Um…" Haruhi stared at the hand spread firmly on her desk.

"Every new student has to pass an initiation test."

Haruhi stood up abruptly. Her fingers hastily closed her english textbook.

"Um," she looked at them. "I have to get to my next class."

"So do we," the blue eyed girl shrugged.

Haruhi slowly picked up the pink envelope. "This wasn't part of the requirements in my letter."

"Darling," the girls cooed. "That was the official stuff. This is way more important. If you want to come to Ouran you've got to be accepted by the students."

"I just deliver this?" Haruhi frowned. She was hesitant, a little uncertain but not too worried. The girls outstretched their pale skinny hands. Haruhi only tilted her head in pure puzzlement.

"You're offical Ouran letter."

Haruhi slowly took her letter of acceptance out. "Why do I have to hand this over?"

"It's a deposit."

Haruhi paused. _Did mother have an initiation test too? _"Okay then." She exchanged letters.

She looked at the pink envelope. On its thick handmade paper were the words "Dear Kaoru Hitachiin." _Who and where is Kaoru Hitachiin? _

"He'll look after you," the girls answered her internalized question before flocking away. Was it her imagination but did they also just smirk at her as well?

--

_The Hitachiin Ritual:_

She placed the letter in the desk marked "Kaoru Hitachiin." Haruhi was anxious to get her Ouran acceptance letter back. Her task didn't finish there. By mid afternoon, she found a slip of paper in her desk. It was almost automatic the way the slip of paper was there. It had the boring plain words:

Please wait by the school fountains after school.

When the bell rang, Haruhi hastily rushed from the classrooms. She was sure the girls had arranged to meet her after school so she could get her Ouran letter back. After all she had completed the initiation task, hadn't she?

"I read your letter," a voice said smoothly.

Startled, Haruhi dropped her bag on the pavements. It was that courtyard again. A beautiful fountain shimmered in the centre. Doves were fluttering by the water side.

"How did you know it was from me?" Haruhi asked, frowning. She hadn't introduced herself to anyone yet, so no one could have put her name on that letter. She whipped her head to catch the source of the voice. The person was still hidden from view.

"Because I saw you put in the desk." A boy slid out from the shadows. He was leaning on the poles supporting the old fashioned buildings. He was wearing a mysterious smile.

Haruhi stared at his vivid red hair and honey eyes. "It's you," she said slowly.

Kaoru didn't show a single sign of recognition. "Who?" He opened up his eyes wide. He cocked his head and began walking towards her. "Who?" He asked again, his voice hardening.

_Never mind. _Haruhi shrugged. "Are you Kaoru? Because if you are, then you've obviously got the letter and I can go home now."

Kaoru stopped walking. His face was blank. Then he easily smiled again. "Don't you want to talk to me face to face? It's better than talking to me through a letter right?" He continued the pattern of walking closer. In the next step, his face turned apologetic. "Isn't it unfortunate? You put the letter in the wrong desk. You should have talked to me instead of sending letters. But then you would have made the same mistake anyway. I'm Hikaru."

She was pretty sure she put the letter in the desk labeled "Kaoru Hitachiin." But it was unlikely someone could mistake their own identities. Haruhi sighed. "I'm sorry. Could you please pass that on to your twin then?"

She picked up her bag wearily.

"Wait." He was close enough to pull her bag back to the ground. "I think you're pretty." Her bag crashed onto the floor and its contents spilled out. She couldn't bend down to pick it up because she was forced to only look at him.

His eyes were swirling with desire. She felt uncertain. The silence was too long. "Many people tell me that," she finally replied, choosing to speak the truth and discarding her unease in sounding unappreciative. "It's annoying."

He seemed to suppress a laugh. His eyes moved away as if to look at something else then it switched back onto her. He put his hand on her shoulder giving him the room to lean even closer. "Well Kaoru won't go out with you since he likes someone else," he neglected her earlier comment. "So what about me instead?"

Haruhi's forehead creased. _What had been in that pink letter?_ He watched her like a cat watching a mouse. The signs weren't right. "I'm not going anywhere with anyone," Haruhi slid out of his grasp. "I'm going home."

He didn't give up. "Are you playing hard to get?" he asked, slightly confused. She just stared at him solidly with her dark brown eyes.

"Give the letter to Kaoru please." Then she left.

He stood there alone; the pre-words _But I'm already madly in love with you _stuck in his throat.

"Are you sure that girl gave you a love letter?" Hikaru scoffed, appearing next to him.

"Well what else is this pink envelope?" Kaoru muttered. "We get so many we don't even bother opening them anymore."

"That girl is not in love with you," his brother said plainly. "It was pretty obvious."

"I'm not in love with her either," Kaoru snapped back.

"Well I don't believe she didn't get tricked. In the past decade, every girl who is in love with us ends up with the same fate. Fact that she didn't means she isn't in love with us," Hikaru explained easily.

"Then why did she even bother giving me the letter?" Hikaru didn't answer his brother's question. He didn't even consider it. "Come on Kaoru. Chuck that letter in the bin. Let's go home."

Kaoru hesitated. He slipped the envelope into his pocket discreetly. The younger twin was frowning. His mind ticked. His heart felt different. Perhaps he was desperate for something to change. He wanted to be normal, like a commoner boy. Maybe he wanted that girl to be truly in love with him and him only. _Like that dream? If only it had turned out well…_

---

He was walking down the corridor with the intention of reading her letter when he caught the conversation of three girls.

"This was mean."

"Why?"

"You made up the whole initiation thing on the spot. Not to mention you practically sent her to hell. And you took her offers letter"

"It's not hell."

"So it's heaven approaching the most popular guys in middle school? Every girl who ends up giving them a letter comes home in tears."

"She's really beautiful."

"So was Sakura, Inori, Chi-Chi and Rui-chan, the list goes on. Don't deny you're not in love with them. That letter you made that poor girl deliver was your own love letter."

"So? If she succeeds, then my feelings will be read. If she fails, then it proves how she's like the rest of us."

"You're just jealous. You want to prove she's of a normal beauty status at the cost of your own love letter being ripped to shreds before it's even read by the Hitachiins."

"Yeah but the twins reject my letter on the grounds that they think it's from her."

"What are you doing?"

"A magic spell for luck. To be honest I want her to succeed so that Kaoru reads my letter. It's got my name on it inside. And besides then we can welcome her as a new student."

"You'll _welcome_ her after that? Yeah right. Let me tell you Kaoru's never going to read your letter."

"Why not? Jeez thanks for the support."

"Because they reject everyone, magic or no magic. That's the pattern. That's the Hitachiin ritual which has been in action ever since a decade ago."

Kaoru stopped listening. Usually it was always Hikaru who administered_ that_ part of the ritual. But this time _he_ ripped the letter into a million pieces, feeling no ounce of remorse and only grim satisfaction as the unread words floated away with the wind.

---

"So what's the report?"

"Kaoru accepted the letter."

"What?"

Kaoru was on the verge of leaving and forgetting. His body tensed as the voices turned hard and angry.

"You mean Kaoru accepted the letter?"

"That's what I said."

"She didn't get tricked?"

"She didn't get tricked."

There was an ugly pause.

"Hack her hair off."

"_What?_"

"Do it!" the voices insisted, infused with jealousy. "I hate her hair. Make it look like an accident."

---

Someone was chasing her. Haruhi quickened her steps along the road. She had been hearing heavy footsteps since she walked out the school gates after her orientation. So it was someone rich and well acquainted then, she thought. Her legs took her to the public rose maze. It was a place only commoners knew about. She ducked under the infamous Rose Doorway and took a décor. The footsteps faded away.

Rich kids were strange people. She didn't understand how they functioned. Perhaps they were an entirely different species after all. They had never returned her letter. What was she going to do now? And what had that boy tried to do? Haruhi, with a sinking heart, recognized she was probably facing some tough times. But after what happened ten years ago, nothing would ever be that hard again.

Haruhi passed through the maze exit and pressed the button for the traffic lights to flash green. Her chaser was no where to be seen. She had used this trick many times. For some reason, some people, like the boys in her middle school liked to follow her around.

It happened in a split second. Something bashed into her. Haruhi tumbled to the ground. Fingers were digging ruthlessly into her skin. Haruhi tried to scream. She kicked and punched and fought as panic sank its teeth into her. _Thugs, _Haruhi grinded her teeth as the suffocating taste of fear filled her mouth rendering her mute, _thugs like last time. _

They took all her newly bought school textbooks this time. Haruhi slowly gathered her things together, trying not to cry. She brushed her hair off her face and her fingers found stickiness. It was bubblegum. She had no choice. Hands trembling, Haruhi hacked her own hair off with her scissors from her pencil case.

Then she sat down by the edge of the road. Her neck felt colder because of no hair covering it. The ground underneath was bumpy and hard. Somehow she felt terrible – like the days when she particularly missed her mother. It was those times when "belong" sounded dull and lifeless. She thought she would be happy on her Orientation Day.

Haruhi pushed emotions aside and thought about her predicament. She would have to buy the textbooks again. There would be none left for the uniform. Trust Ouran uniforms to be as expensive if not more as all the textbooks. She was glad she didn't have to waste money on it. She was glad she had got rid of her annoying long hair. Haruhi bit her lip. The pain could dull the pain inside.

Heavy footsteps stopped slowly in front of her.

"Are you okay?" the voice was quiet. It took Haruhi a while to figure out someone was talking to her. "Your letter." It said again.

Haruhi looked up. A white envelope was offered towards her.

"You …" she murmured faintly. It was the boy with red hair and honey coloured eyes again. He looked intensely uncomfortable. He wasn't looking at her hair but she knew he must have been wondering about her hair. She frowned. "I told you I'm going home. Why did you follow me?" She suddenly figured out who had been chasing her earlier on.

"It's your Ouran acceptance letter," he said shortly. "Some people took it right? They weren't intending to return it so I took it from them." She was wordless. "Some people aren't very nice," he continued. His tone turned bitter, like he knew exactly what he was talking about. "They're nice on the outside but in reality they mutter about you behind your back. So be careful."

"Does that I mean I have to be careful of you?"

He blinked, surprised. "Sorry about before. It was a mistake," he shrugged. His fingers touched her ragged hair briefly. "I'm sorry."

Haruhi stared at his retreating back. He was heading back towards the maze, back to the rose doorway from which he had just passed before. _He was still able to find me at the exit even after losing me after the Rose Doorway? His sense of direction is good. _Then shelooked inside the envelope he had given her. There was another letter apart from her Ouran acceptance letter. It was simple and plain. It was unsigned and unaddressed. It had the heartfelt words:

_Thank you._

Haruhi put the envelope in her bag. She didn't understand why he had said thank you to her. Nevertheless, somehow she felt just a little better.

"Thank you," she whispered in return. She thought she could the see something glimmering behind the tree. Stone statues didn't glimmer. She merely dismissed it as the sun and began making her way home.

There is an old century legend about the Rose Doorway situated deep in the public maze: for whoever walks underneath its rose adorned arms, their heart wishes will be granted. Whether this was made up by superficial lovesick school girls eager to exchange love letters or originated deep in the tales of the common town folk – nobody knows. However they say that old century rituals are more potent than ones that are merely a decade old.

* * *

A/N: I believe I wrote this chapter like 5 times. Then I gave it a massively long rest and I only recently reviewed it. I think it's alright . I'm still keeping to symbols throughout – this is beginning to take a lot out of me. xP Please tell me if this is confusing. Cheers, lu.e3

PS: updates are still going to be slow I'm so sorry!!! T_____T But to give you some thought to chew on - the next chapter is titled "Blood Rite". Much thanks to all the reader out there reading this S2


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